Markets starts new F&O series in style; Sensex surpasses 37,200 mark

Indian equity benchmarks started the new F&O series in style with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 37,200 (Sensex) and 11,200 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained upbeat with report that foreign direct investment (FDI) from nations widely regarded as tax havens such as Cayman Islands and Hong Kong jumped in 2017-18, even as overall India-bound investments showed a slower rise, year-on-year (Y-o-Y). From the Cayman Islands, inflows rose in a single year from a low $71.03 million to a whopping $1.23 billion. Traders took some encouragement with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia’s statement that the US wants to reduce its trade deficit with India as quickly as possible, asserting that the Trump administration is aggressively pushing New Delhi on the issues of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, dairy products and agriculture.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green at this point of time despite subdued cues from Wall Street which saw technology stocks lag. The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday, as the worsening Sino-US trade dispute kept investors cautious, despite signs of rapprochement between the US and Europe. 

Back home, some support also came with a report that the US and India are working together hand in glove diplomatically and militarily to build dimensions of the critical bilateral relationship ahead of the two-plus-two dialogue. In scrip specific developments, Hindalco Industries surged with arm inking agreement to acquire 100% control in Aleris Corporation and Thermax edged higher on completing acquisition of stake in TBWES.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37239.62, up by 254.98 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 37134.88 and 37272.86. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.50%, while Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 2.17%, Metal up by 1.60%, Telecom up by 1.42%, Basic Materials up by 0.68% and Healthcare was up by 0.66%, while PSU down by 0.01% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 4.82%, ICICI Bank up by 1.66%, Tata Steel up by 1.54%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.44% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 0.89%, ONGC down by 0.71%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.58%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.50% and TCS down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, welcoming the Parliament’s decision on the long-awaited amendment in the Prevention of Corruption Act, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president Rashesh Shah has said that this will help in expediting the decision-making process in the government besides a revival in bank lending. India’s public sector bankers, struggling to deal with bad loans and investigative scrutiny of their commercial decisions, got a break with this decision.

Shah also said that the applicability of the law only if any official has accumulated assets disproportionate to his income or has misappropriated assets, will go a long way in protecting the honest officials from undue harassment. He concluded that overall, this will help in improving the ease of doing the business scenario in the country.

In order to prevent honest bankers from prosecuting agencies, the Parliament passed the Prevention of Corruption Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018, on July 24, 2018. The amendments propose significant changes to the anti-corruption law, ranging from redefining criminal misconduct to bringing collusive bribe givers under the lens of the investigative agencies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11234.35, up by 67.05 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 11210.25 and 11240.60. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 4.87%, Hindalco up by 4.82%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.35%, ICICI Bank up by 1.84% and Eicher Motors up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.00%, Grasim Industries down by 1.53%, Yes Bank down by 1.38%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.00% and ONGC down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 gained 56.86 points or 0.25% to 22,643.73, Taiwan Weighted increased 49.17 points or 0.44% to 11,059.78, Jakarta Composite added 18.14 points or 0.3% to 5,964.28 and KOSPI was up by 2.21 points or 0.1% to 2,291.27.

On the flip side, Straits Times decreased 6.43 points or 0.19% to 3,322.17, Hang Seng shed 11.65 points or 0.04% to 28,769.49 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.72 points or 0.06% to 2,880.51.